Reflections on public health system responses during Covid-19 in low-and middle-income countries Dr Papiya Mazumdar, Department of Health Sciences

Event details

IGDC Covid-19 webinar series

Strong, resilient health systems are effective bulwarks against shocks, but the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed the existing and diverse nature of weaknesses of health systems across the world, especially in low-and-middle-income countries (LMIC). 

The pandemic has fuelled unprecedented demand for healthcare which has strained and overstretched health systems and resources by overburdening both their services and healthcare workers.  There has been noted concern about the risk of the diversion of resources into emergency response as this often at the cost of other essential services and health care programmes. This would lead to any progress in key health outcomes for some of the world’s poorest and most vulnerable populations being derailed.

How health systems can balance between the new challenges and persisting priorities would determine how likely are countries in continued global health and development commitments, such as the achieving the SDGs and ensuring Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

Experience and learning insights from the public health system leaders in LMICs, such as managing and responding to the pandemic in diverse contexts, would be critical to recognise and prioritise the future agenda in global health initiatives. This can inform developing roadmaps for shock-proofing health systems and ‘build them better’. 

This webinar aims to synthesise perspectives from experts in academia on key lessons learnt by the health systems in LMICs in responding to the present pandemic.

Our speakers will be sharing insights and experiences on measures that could contribute, or have been successful, to protect and respond to different health system constraints and challenges in different country contexts. Strategies that would help health systems in ‘building back better’ make them resilient against similar future shocks, and the resource needs commensurate to such responses will also be discussed.